Fannie Mae CEO Herb Allison is expected to head the government’s $700 billion financial-rescue program, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Allison is the former chairman of investment company TIAA-CREF and was a Merrill Lynch & Co. executive for several years. In September, he agreed to run Fannie Mae after the U.S. took over the mortgage giant and its sister firm, Freddie Mac.
Obama could announce Allison as assistant secretary for the Office of Financial Stability as early as this week. Allison would replace Neel Kashkari, who was asked to stay on through the Bush-Obama transition until a replacement was found.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been searching for someone to run TARP. Potential candidates either did not pass the vetting process or pulled out of consideration on their own accord. If confirmed, Allison will face the problems of how to spend the program’s remaining cash, and will likely represent the administration if it requests more bailout funds.